Around The House And Garden

The seeds I planted a while back have grown and are ready to transplant.  If I just took them outside and planted them straight in the garden they wouldn't do very well.  Very likely they would die...ackkk!  Sooo... instead of throwing those babies out in the garden and praying for they best you should gradually acclimate or "harden" them off...which is what I am now doing....

 ...on the front porch....Hi wittle baby plants!  The first day I put them out for a few hours,  then all day, then all night and day.  It's best to choose an overcast day to do this.  If no overcast day is available, well put them in the shade and gradually move them for a few hours at a time to a sunnier location.  Until they're ready! yea-uh!  If your thinking (whining)  "That's a lotta work"  Remember...they're babies.  Babies always take more work, but if you take the time and do it right they grow up to make you very proud. 

 I have these old black iron column pot stands that I bought second hand from a florist that was going out of business.  They've been standing around my back yard for some time.  I thought they were cool and just knew they would come in handy some day...the day has arrived!  I'm going to plant up some pots with...

 STRAWBERRIES!  ...and turn those columns into Strawberry towers!  I'll post a pic when finished.  I'm hoping the strawberries will fill out and eventually hang over the edge of the pots, keeping them from rotting.  It is so humid here that I haven't had much luck with strawberries in the ground.  This may be just the trick.

 I planted up the pot in the front garden with green onions and creeping jenny.  I use green onions a lot and thought I'd save my self about 25 to 30 extra steps by doing this....hee hee...actually I think they're pretty!

 The orange trees are growing like crazy.  See those oranges on the ground.  They fell during a wind storm.  I'm not being wasteful...promise.  The oranges from my tree weren't that great.  There were lots of dry pulpy spots.  I think it's a combination of the young age of the trees and the lack of rain we had at times this past year.  My Mom-in-law's tree produced absolutely DEE-liciouscrumptuous oranges.  My mouth is watering.  Her tree is a good ten years older.  My babies are only three.

 Love, love, love this water lily flowered camellia.  I bought two of them and they are going on either side of the gate on my property in Mississippi.  Camellias and Mississippi...can you get any more southern than that?

 My red camellia bloomed beautifully this year but it's leaves don't look that great.  Guess research is required.

 Can you believe...figs already?

 It's amazing how much fruit is setting on the trees right now!  The loquats are actually producing ripe fruit.  The birds are loving it.  I better get myself outside and pick a few.  As the tees get larger and the shrub cover gets bigger in my garden I am seeing an amazing variety and amount of bird life.  Oh,  I'm just loving it.

 The mulberries are setting....

 ...and the pears are blooming!

 Even my Oldham bamboo is shooting out some nice sized canes...sigh!!!!

 This antique rose I bought at a local flower show is just gorgeous.  Look how it makes these double blooms sometimes!

 An overall pick of the veggie garden.  I just mulched it for spring and the seeds and transplants are going to be planted during the next few days.

 Luscious...even in early spring!

 We chopped up the kid's Rainbow play system in the back yard.  No matter what they tell you...they don't last a lifetime.  Ours lasted maybe ten years, and the last two weren't that great.  No matter, Byron's making me some great recycled things from the lumber...like this pole corral.  Now I don't have to trip or trip my visitors on piles of poles laying in the path!  Thanks babe!

Cute Baby Break

These are pictures of my nephews....having a good time at the church picnic on Mardi Gras Day!

 Water and a push truck....in 16 years it'll be mud and and a jacked up truck!

 So nice not to give a rat's rear end about what any one thinks....

 ...a beautiful cool ditch of water and ....I'm in!

 ....no one else is around...just me the truck and this awsome swampy ditch...

 ...there may be snakes?....what's a snake.....

 ...this is the best baby sitter my mom has had in a long time....

 ...content...

 ...hey Auntie....

 ...back to biz....

 Hey Auntie Kristi....

 ...I like picnics...

 ...and this blankie is so soft...and I get to be trundled around and pampered by everyone all day...

 ...Life is Good!....

We Went Fishing!

Shell Beach in St. Bernard Louisiana

 Houses or Camp Houses?

 Brown Pelican

 Katrina Memorial

Many People Died During Hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard Parish

 Brown Pelicans are every where now.

 Hell Divers and Pelicans

 Beautiful

Umm..no we didn't catch any fish!

Recent Harvest & Soil Blocks

A recent harvest:  broccoli, 3 cauliflower heads, large green onions, and oodles of carrots!

The carrots were planted in the fall and this year's harvest is the prettiest and sweetest that I've ever grown.  It must be how I prepared the bed.  Before planting I topped the bed with several wheel barrel loads of composted deep bedding from the chicken yard.  Lovely!  Carrots come in so many brilliant colors...red, yellow, orange, purple...I've read that the red carrots are especially healthy!  I must say the Chantenay red core carrots are the sweetest I've tasted so far!  The "Amarillo" yellow carrots have a distinctive delicious mild flavor.  It's amazing how many people do not know that carrot tops are edible and can eaten in so many ways!  Delish!

My newest garden tool from Johnny Seeds.  I bought the micro soil block maker from the Heritage Festival at Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello last fall.  I love it, but the seeds quickly out grew the tiny squares...then I discovered the 2" SOIL block maker....that can be fitted with the cutest....

...dibble just the size of the micro blocks.  Then you can just tuck those tiny cubes in.  It allows you not to waste seeds or soil (which you must purchase or carefully save).  The tiny soil cubes that contain seeds that do not germinate can be thrown into the compost bucket.  Only the small cubes that germinate are put into the larger cubes (obviously).  Any ol' ways your not wasting a 2" cube with a sorry seed!  It'sa ver nice!

This is the seed starting mixture I use for the cubes.....

....you wet it just enough to make it stick together, but not soggy...um' those are not unmatched socks....
Larger seeds such as squash, cucumber, pumpkin, bean, okra, etc...are best planted directly where they will be growing...since they don't transplant so well.

This is peppers in the micro blocks....notice that all the blocks do not have a plant yet...there will be more....but those that don't germinate...into to the compost bucket....

....see the little t'mater block all tucked in it's new home?

Why I Love Bentos & Seedlings

This year I have made the girls bento lunches everyday for school.  There's many reasons I love these lunches.  They're so practical.  Ha!  You're most likely saying..."Those are the most impractical lunches with all the forming and decor...and they must take hours to make."  Nope, not really.  I haven't had so much fun fixing lunches in my life.  I used to hate making lunches and I would get lazy and skip.  Then my girls had to get lunch in the cafeteria, and we know what those taste like.

When I was in high school I would take my lunch money everyday and buy a candy bar, a bag of chips and

a coke.  Wonder what my Mom would have thought if she only knew.  My girls love these lunches, and I know.  Each day they let me know exactly what they liked and sometimes didn't.  Mostly I get rave reviews from my girls in the bento dept.

The Things I Like About Bento:

They are fun to make and eat

It's easier to include healthful choices that your children will eat

The containers moderate portion sizes

and there is absolutely zero trash to throw a way

Here is a couple of bentos I made the girls recently. 

Baby boiled egg wrapped in a pink soy "lacy blanket" with flowers.  The oranges are from my trees.  The carrots are from the garden and the eggs are from my chickens.

 

AAAwwwww!  I used a paper punch to make the lace on the soy blanket.

It's really easy to decorate it up.  The carrots cut in two ways make a nice sun on fried rice.

Fried Rice Recipe

Cooked rice 2 to 3 cups

Sesame oil 2 tblsps

chopped onions 1/4 cup chopped fine

Thai garlic chili paste 1/2 teaspoon

Chopped green onions 2 or 3 stalks

soy sauce 2 tblsps

2 to 3 eggs

salt to taste

pepper to taste

bean sprouts

Put everything but rice, bean sprouts and eggs in wok or skillet.  Not sure on portions.  I just use the amount I like of each seasoning.  Saute until onions are clear.  Add rice and stir until completely covered.  Once rice heats up push to sides of pan.  Crack eggs in pan.  Gently scramble until done then mix rice and eggs together.  Sprinkle salt pepper and sprouts on top and serve.  Of course you can make numerous variations.

Picks are an easy way to brighten up the bento.  They make my girls smile.  It's King Cake time in New Orleans and Ponchatoula Strawberry time.  Mmmmm these strawberries were sweeter than Louisiana strawberries typically are.

They stack up nicely and are held together with a felt or elastic band.  When the girls finish their lunch they put their box in their book bags and bring them home to be washed.  I include chopsticks, spoons or forks when needed.  I just slide them under the strap.  Absolutely ZERO Waste. 

That's important to me.  My girls' schools actually serve lunches on disposable Styrofoam trays, plastic utensils, paper napkins, and cardboard cartons...Seleste says that each child has a small mountain of trash on their disposable tray to throw a way each day! 

That's just our little community....3,000 little mountains of trash EVERY DAY.  DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO ANYONE?????!!!  I was told that they didn't have the finances to hire someone to run the machines to wash the trays.  THEY HAVE TRAYS AND A MACHINE AND DON'T USE THEM!  THIS IS SINFUL!  anyway...it really doesn't make sense to me.  Even if you have no prob with the trash....wouldn't you rather use the money to pay someone to have an actual job in the community rather than send it off to purchase landfill fodder?

My seeds are sprouting!  I used a micro soil blocker tool to plant the seeds.  I will move them into larger squares once they develop some roots.

Lookin' good

You'll be in the ground before you know it!